No more super fast high end cards?

[Lonyo]

Nvidia Corp., the world?s largest supplier of graphics processors, said that it has no immediate plans to release graphics cards that offer higher speed than current top-of-the-range GeForce 8800 Ultra, but said that customers seeking for extreme performance will soon be able to install three graphics cards into one system to get incredible graphics rendering horsepower.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/v...s_Chief_Executive.html

ATI, graphics product group of Advanced Micro Devices, also said earlier this year that it would focus on development of multi-GPU solutions for high-end market instead of creating large graphics chips with roughly a billion of transistors, which are hard to produce and develop.

This also ties in with AMD/ATi talking about quad-GPU systems with Crossfire-X

ATI CrossfireX, previously dubbed Quad Crossfire, will also finally make its debut. In short, users will be able to connect up to four HD 3800 cards through AMD's Crossfire. The technology will support up to 8 monitors, and will also allow overclocking.

http://www.dailytech.com/AMD+R...pon+Us/article9613.htm
http://www.dailytech.com/AMD+P...ssFire/article7986.htm

Looks like the move which makes sense (given how parallel graphics processing is) is coming, especially now PCIe-2.0 is here which offers more bandwidth (twice as much, as triple/quad cards won't be too bandwidth starved).

Of course, for the consumer it means more heat, more power, more space and more expensive components, but for the manufacturers it means it's easier to give us more power, since they can sell us multiple less powerful cards, rather than having to invest a lot in a single high power complex GPU.

 

[Hauk]

Well damn, is this why it's been speculation at best about a new flagship on the horizon?

If this is the case, maybe ATI stands a better chance than some think. Specs for their new releases sure are crossfire friendly..

 

[SniperDaws]

Wonderful, do you think they could raise the price of the cards aswell because im not happy paying £200 per card...........

 

[Cheex]

Originally posted by: SniperDaws
Wonderful, do you think they could raise the price of the cards aswell because im not happy paying £200 per card...........

I honestly hope that this is sarcasm.

 

[BadRobot]

Dumb

 

[Cheex]

BTW, I think that the move to multiple card setups will totally suck for the consumers. :thumbsdown:

Maybe good for business though. :thumbsup:

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: SniperDaws
Wonderful, do you think they could raise the price of the cards aswell because im not happy paying £200 per card...........

Um.. £175 for an 8800GT 512MB.
£160 for an HD3870 (possible based on leaks)
£140 for an 8800GT 256MB
£125 for an HD3850 (based on leaks)

So, um, you shouldn't be paying £200 atm.
Having said that, I paid £200 for my Ti4400, £200 for my 9800 and £200 for my 7800GT when I bought those.

Prices are IMO pretty damned reasonable.

 

[chizow]

Makes sense from a business/economic standpoint as the old business model of creating a high-end part only to artificially neuter it for lower product segments made no sense for NV/AMD or the end-user. Hopefully, if they go the SLI/CF route, that means they'll actually focus on improving performance in multi-GPU configurations to the point its a viable upgrade path/alternative. Personally I'd like to see multi-GPU solutions on the same die or package with hardware bridges/controllers rather than reliance on software SLI/CF.

 

[Sylvanas]

How long can something like this last though? I can't really see Dell and HP selling computers 2 years from now with 2/4 graphics cards in them, more trouble than It's worth IMO. I hope both NV/AMD are focusing on multi-GPU solutions on the one card/die....that would make more sense.

 

[Keysplayr]

Maybe now and hereafter, the cards themselves can grow much smaller. Wouldn't be so bad with four cards in a system, when each card can fit in the palm of your hand.

 

[SniperDaws]

Its a scam, basically Nvidia are going to stop making high end cards so the only way we will be able to play our games will be to buy more than 1 card, what a rip off.

 

[SniperDaws]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Maybe now and hereafter, the cards themselves can grow much smaller. Wouldn't be so bad with four cards in a system, when each card can fit in the palm of your hand.

And you think they will be £50 each do you ?

 

[SniperDaws]

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Originally posted by: SniperDaws
Wonderful, do you think they could raise the price of the cards aswell because im not happy paying £200 per card...........

Um.. £175 for an 8800GT 512MB.
£160 for an HD3870 (possible based on leaks)
£140 for an 8800GT 256MB
£125 for an HD3850 (based on leaks)

So, um, you shouldn't be paying £200 atm.
Having said that, I paid £200 for my Ti4400, £200 for my 9800 and £200 for my 7800GT when I bought those.

Prices are IMO pretty damned reasonable.

The 9800 and 7800 are highend cards not midranged like the 8800GT, and also the 8800GT doesnt work in Triple SLI.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: SniperDaws
Its a scam, basically Nvidia are going to stop making high end cards so the only way we will be able to play our games will be to buy more than 1 card, what a rip off.

No, that's not what NV/AMD said. Instead of making a revolutionary new transistor monster every year or two, they'd go with incremental upgrades that could then be used in multi-GPU configurations to reach the high-end performance a new transistor monster would offer.

This offers a better alternative for the mainstream end-user who could expect to get the fastest single-card solution for a reasonable price ($200-300), with those wanting high-end performance going with multiple GPUs to reach the high-end.

The alternative is what we've been seeing the last few years with a super high-end part for $500-$600 with a partially neutered part for a little bit less ($300-$400) and the mid-range/mainstream part, with much reduced performance, being released later on a new process.

Originally posted by: SniperDaws
The 9800 and 7800 are highend cards not midranged like the 8800GT, and also the 8800GT doesnt work in Triple SLI.

The 8800GT is closer to high-end than mid-range in terms of performance even if its price is mid-range. Triple SLI is something that isn't a limitation of the GPU, but rather the PCB/interface so its not something to rule out just because current GTs don't have the option. I'd expect the G92 GTS to support more SLI options along with any G92 X2 variant.

 

[fleshconsumed]

I refuse to have SLI/CF in my rig, if that's what it takes to get my games running smoothly then I guess I'm quitting gaming. I don't game that much anyway.

The thing is I can quietly cool one card with an aftermarket heatsink and still have enough expansion slots available. With second second card in SLI/CF I lose second PCIe slot so I can't have 3 monitors, I lose too many expansion slots and 2 cards in SLI/CF are much harder to cool quietly. Too much trouble for minimal gains - a 50% increase in framerate (if my CPU can handle it) at double the cost. No thanks.

 

[Munky]

The day a single card can not play my games well will be the day I quit PC gaming. Until 2 cards can guarantee me close to 100% performance improvement in every game, I will not buy into this marketing gimmick and primitive performance solution.

 

[PingSpike]

Crisis runs great on my Octo-SLI FX 5200 rig.

 

[apoc1999]

Oh my god yes...... I just read through what Lonyo had to say at the biggining and i am exstatic about Multi Video card support. I mean i have posted alot about AGP on these forums for the plain fact that i'm trying to give my old system its final push, but by the time i get into the marine core ill have some cash to spend on a new system and if the Multi card Support is out i'm so going to do it mhaha. Heat is nothing, i have an open case system with an Extra Two fans, it dosnt get hot. Any ways.... thats Awesome

 

[Skunkwourk]

Originally posted by: munky
The day a single card can not play my games well will be the day I quit PC gaming. Until 2 cards can guarantee me close to 100% performance improvement in every game, I will not buy into this marketing gimmick and primitive performance solution.

Can't imagine there being any PCI slots with 4 Video Cards in one MB. I can also see difficulties with cooling. I myself like to keep my system as quiet as possible, and I can't imagine 4 passive coolers keeping my system cool, or 4 GPU fans operating quietly.

 

[BadRobot]

Originally posted by: BadRobot
Dumb

 

[apoc1999]

Thats why people need to get over the fact that it'll make noise, i play music when ever im gameing and the like so i guess i cant complain cause i don't hear anything. But then again my system currently isn't loud either. But my guess is that this is going to be a new PC era real soon. And next thing we as consumers know there coming out with New mobo's and quieter and smaller Video cards left an right man. When the day comes i will be happy...yes i will, im a gamer an old school gamer man. With some of the games i've seen these days on systems and pc's alike it amaze's me some times...it really dose

 

[nitromullet]

I think some of you are taking this to literal. My thinking on this:

1) Don't ever trust what Jen-Hsun Huang says about the future of NVIDIA products
2) I would imagine that by "this is our focus for now", he means the 2007 Holiday Season, not all of 2008.
3) NVIDIA has been pushing multi-gpu for years now, but it has yet to gain any real traction beyond normal (2 gpu) SLI. Quad-SLI was pretty much a bust, the 680i boards have had that extra PCIe x16 (physical) slot for you year now for no reason, and the 8800GTXes have had also had useless dual SLI connectors on them for a year all because NVIDIA has been touting multi-gpu benefits that haven't materialized. This is no different IMO.
4) What about physics? I though that was the focus of the third card in a multi-gpu setup? Oh yeah... see point 1. at the top of this list.

 

[SniperDaws]

Originally posted by: munky
The day a single card can not play my games well will be the day I quit PC gaming. Until 2 cards can guarantee me close to 100% performance improvement in every game, I will not buy into this marketing gimmick and primitive performance solution.

My sentiments exactly.

 

[jonks]

Maybe my EVGA step-up can step-sideways and get another GT for less? Rats.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: SniperDaws

Originally posted by: munky
The day a single card can not play my games well will be the day I quit PC gaming. Until 2 cards can guarantee me close to 100% performance improvement in every game, I will not buy into this marketing gimmick and primitive performance solution.

My sentiments exactly.

That's rather silly. If they push multi-GPU solutions that hard and get the SLI/Crossfire limitations(mainly multi monitor) sorted out, there's not really any reason why multi-GPU setups are any better or worse than ultra-high single card setups. All the things people are complaining about in this thread(power consumption, space, price) are all valid complaints of current top-end models, too.